Dear Neighbors,
The 2024 legislative session came to an end on Sunday evening, putting a wrap on a two-year biennium that saw the largest expansion of state government in more than a generation.
Remember, with the record $18 billion surplus last year, Minnesotans deserved meaningful tax cuts at a time when in?ation and rising costs of living have family budgets stretched thin. Instead, Democrats went on a spending spree, increased the budget by 40% – the largest budget increase in Minnesota history – and raised taxes by $10 billion in the process.
Now, after all the damage from the last two years, Minnesota is facing a deficit in the upcoming budget cycle.
In addition to higher taxes and an explosion in overall government spending, the last two years saw several divisive policies become law including the most extreme abortion law in the country, a state-funded speech registry that could undermine First Amendment rights, and declaring Minnesota a sanctuary state for transgender healthcare – for children.
The dysfunction of the last two years came to a head on Sunday night as House and Senate Democrats rolled dozens of unrelated bills into a massive 1,400 page omnibus bill, used procedural motions to shut down debate, and forced a vote just minutes before the midnight deadline.
Throughout this entire ordeal, they completely ignored dozens of higher procedural motions made by House Republicans, ignored our Minority Leader who tried numerous times to be recognized in order to speak on the House Floor, and violated several House Rules in doing so.
Without any time to review the monstrous bill, lawmakers could not be reasonably aware of what they were actually voting on.
Once the dust settled, we found out that the broadly bipartisan provision in the Tax Bill that increases the Veterans Homestead Tax Exemption was removed without explanation. This provision was added to the House Tax Bill earlier this month and received unanimous support from the entire body.
Increasing this tax exemption was the top priority for the many veterans organizations in our state.
If we had time to review the bill before it was jammed through, we could have caught this and made sure it remained. Now, our disabled veterans community will suffer as a result.
We hear time and again that Democrats are the party of ‘good government’, but what we saw this week was government and politics at its absolute worst. After two years of complete control of state government and months to get their work done on time, House and Senate leadership chose politics over people and dysfunction over democracy. Allowing a charged felon to be the deciding vote in the Senate and shutting down debate to jam through a 1,400-page omnibus bill just minutes before the midnight deadline shows that they are not able to lead our state with integrity.
While there were many disappointments, I am proud to share that we were able to stop legislation that would have enshrined abortion until the moment of birth in our state constitution. We also upheld and protected religious liberty in the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Finally, we were able to prevent most of the most extreme gun control bills from becoming law.
These “wins” were the direct result of you and your neighbors remaining engaged in the process and making sure your voices were heard loud and clear.
While the session may be over, my work for you never stops. Please continue to reach out to my office if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. You can call me at 651-296-5516 or email me at rep.matt.bliss@house.mn.gov.
Have a great day,
Matt